A farmers market honey stand is one of the better places to buy honey in America, and grocery honey is one of the worse. Cheap honey is often cut with syrup, ultrafiltered, or blended from across an ocean. A local jar from a named apiary is a different product: floral, sometimes crystallized, and tied to the plants that bloomed that year.
How to tell you are buying honey
- A beekeeper who can name the yards. “From around here” is weaker than a county, a farm, or a map.
- Crystallization is normal. Creamed or set honey is still honey. A jar that never thickens can be a warning, not a virtue.
- Varietal names should mean something: spring wildflower, clover, or a late-season dark honey from whatever was blooming.
- Price that is far below the other stands is information. Bees are not a discount business.
Using it
Do not put raw honey on a screaming-hot pan if you care about the raw part. Stir it into tea off the boil, dress yogurt, or bake with the darker, stronger jars where a little heat will not matter. Infants under one year should not have honey at all, raw or otherwise.
The bottom line
Buy honey from a person who keeps bees, not a brand that keeps a warehouse. Ask where the hives sit, take crystallization as a compliment, and keep a cheap plastic bear out of the story.